Super Rugby Week #14 Team of The Week

22 May 2018

The Super Rugby Team of the Week has representatives from nine of the teams after a high scoring round that saw the Waratahs break the Australian drought against Kiwi teams and strengthen their grip on Aussie Conference. The Hurricanes have four players in the team and continue their pressure on the Crusaders at the top of Kiwi conference while the in-form Jaguares contribute three players and look set for their first finals berth.

Hurricanes fly-half Beauden Barrett was back to his best and takes out Player of the Week after scoring 18 points, including a try, carrying 17 times and kicking six from six against the Reds.

15

Israel Folau

Waratahs

Beat five defenders, made four clean breaks, and gained 78m from 13 carries as well as crossed for a brace of tries.

14

Rieko Ioane

Blues

Made a joint round-high in both clean breaks (4) and defenders beaten (9), made two try assists, and scored two tries of his own.

13

Curtis Rona

Waratahs

Provided two try assists, scored one try, made four clean breaks, and gained 51m from 14 carries.

12

Jeronimo De La Fuente

Jaguares

Made seven tackles, seven carries for 57m gained, four clean breaks, and provided one try assist.

11

Ben Lam

Hurricanes

Crossed for a brace of tries as well as making joint round-highs in both defenders beaten (9) and clean breaks (4).

10

Beauden Barrett

Hurricanes

Made 17 carries, the equal second most of any player, beat four defenders, made two offloads, and finished with a tally of 18 points from one try and 6/6 goals.

9

Gonzalo Bertranou

Jaguares

Beat five defenders and made two offloads from six carries, provided two try assists, and made 11 kicks in general play.

8

Blade Thomson

Hurricanes

Made 10 carries for 25m gained, two clean breaks, 6/6 tackles, and crossed for a try.

7

Marcos Kremer

Jaguares

Made 16 carries for 44m gained, three clean breaks, and nine tackles, as well as beating five defenders and crossing for a try.

6

Luke Jacobson

Chiefs

Made 9/10 tackles, two offloads, and beat two defenders from 10 carries.

5

Sam Lousi

Hurricanes

Won one turnover, made 7/8 tackles, two clean breaks, and two offloads from 12 carries and scored a try.

4

Grant Hattingh

Sunwolves

Made eight carries for 20m gained, won six lineouts (including a steal), beat two defenders, made 4/4 tackles and crossed for a try.

3

Taniela Tupou

Reds

Scored one try and assisted another, gained 43m from six carries, and beat five defenders.

2

Armand van der Merwe

Sharks

Made three offloads, a joint round-high among forwards, two clean breaks, 6/7 tackles, and gained 48m from 10 carries.

1

Trevor Nyakane

Bulls

Made 14/15 tackles, four carries, and won a turnover.

Opta Index: How does it work

The Opta Index allows genuine opportunities to compare and contrast both player and team strengths and weaknesses across Super Rugby, providing real insights pre-game as follows:

After every match Opta completes a video analysis of every touch of the ball. Each action in the match is awarded a points value depending on the relative importance of the action. So for example, a try scores more points than a tackle, but a player loses points for a missed tackle.

The points are then weighted against the score at the time when the action took place (higher points if the score is closer), the time in the match (higher points at the start of the match) and the position on the pitch where it took place (higher points for actions closer to the goal line).

The player is then given a score for the match by adding up all his actions while he was on the field. The total match score is then weighted to take account of the strength of the opposition so that performances across many matches can be judged fairly.